Supreme Court lifts stay in 'climate kids' case

Friday

Nov 2, 2018 at 4:05 PMNov 5, 2018 at 8:51 AM

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed proceedings to resume in a youth-led climate case that had been set to go to trial in Eugene earlier this week.

The case had been frozen since Oct. 19, when Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily stopped it at the request of the government, which wanted the high court to take additional time to consider ordering its dismissal.

Roberts referred the government's request to the entire court, which denied it. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch supported the request, according to the three-page order issued Friday.

The decision, on its surface, appears to represent a major blow to the federal government, which repeatedly has tried to get the climate case thrown out of court. But Department of Justice spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle indicated Friday that further appeals could be on the way.

Hornbuckle noted the Supreme Court order is "without prejudice," meaning the government potentially could make its arguments again at a later point.

"We are pleased that it sets a path for the Justice Department to continue efforts toward dismissal of this improper case," Hornbuckle said.

The order notes that the government still may seek relief from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, saying "pursuit of that option is ordinarily required" before the Supreme Court may consider dismissing a case.

The 9th Circuit already has rejected three requests from the government to intervene.

Roberts' Oct. 19 order imposing a temporary stay forced the postponement of a trial in the case, which had been scheduled to begin last Monday in U.S. District Court in Eugene.

In response to Friday's decision, attorneys for the 21 youth plaintiffs suing the government asked Judge Ann Aiken to immediately schedule a hearing in order to set a pretrial conference that must be held before the trial begins.

“The youth of our nation won an important decision today from the Supreme Court that shows even the most powerful government in the world must follow the rules and process of litigation in our democracy," one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, Julia Olson of Eugene, said Friday. She said the request for a status conference is intended to get the case "back on track for trial in the next week.”

Kelsey Juliana, 22, is one of six plaintiffs from Eugene. She said Friday that she wants "to trust that we are truly on track for trial without having further delays, but these defendants are treating this case, our democracy, and the security of mine and future generations like it’s a game. I’m tired of playing this game. These petitions for stay and dismissal are exhausting."

The plaintiffs assert in a lawsuit, first filed in 2015, that the government has long known about the dangers associated with the burning of fossil fuels but has ignored those risks while permitting and encouraging their use. The suit alleges that the government's actions have allowed human-generated, atmospheric carbon concentrations to escalate to unprecedented levels that have destabilized the climate system.

The suit alleges constitutional rights violations. It seeks a court order directing the government to stop permitting, authorizing and subsidizing fossil fuel use in order to phase out carbon emissions, and to put in place a national plan that works to stabilize the climate.

Last month, a United Nations panel of scientists warned that countries will need to take major action to cut carbon emissions in the coming years in order to avoid grave consequences related to global warming.

In its petition filed last month with the Supreme Court, attorneys with the Department of Justice said the youth plaintiffs’ position in the case that’s now on hold “amounts to the astounding assertion that permitting or encouraging the combustion of fossil fuels violates the due-process clause of the Constitution and a single district court in a suit brought by a handful of plaintiffs may decree the end of the carbon-based features of the United States’ energy system, without regard to the statutory and regulatory framework Congress enacted to address such issues with broad public input.”

But while the government repeatedly has objected to using the court to set climate policy, it has — in a formal answer to the lawsuit filed in January 2017 — agreed with many of the plaintiffs’ scientific and factual allegations.

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